Defects & final account disputes
The final account is where a project’s accumulated disagreements come home to roost — variations that were never properly valued, defects that are contested, retention that will not be released, set-offs and cross-claims. We resolve these disputes by getting to the measured facts.
Defects and the right to remedy
Defects disputes turn on whether the work departs from the contract, who is responsible, and what it costs to put right. The contract usually gives the contractor a right and an obligation to return and remedy during the defects liability period; an employer who bars that right can weaken its own claim. We advise on both sides of that equation, working with technical experts on causation and cost.
Variations, measurement and valuation
Much of a final account dispute is arithmetic and interpretation — whether an instruction was a variation, how it should be valued under the contract’s rates, and how the works actually executed measure up. We reconstruct the account from the records and the contract mechanism rather than from assertion.
Retention and release
Retention monies and the release of the final certificate are frequent flashpoints. Where release is being withheld without a proper contractual basis, adjudication is often the quickest lever; where there are genuine cross-claims, they have to be pleaded and valued properly.
How we help
- Defective work and remedial cost disputes
- Variation and instruction valuation
- Measurement and final account reconciliation
- Retention monies and final certificate disputes
- Set-off and cross-claims
- Expert-led causation and quantum analysis
Common questions
Can I claim the cost of fixing defects myself?
A payment claim just landed? The clock has already started.
Construction disputes run on deadlines — statutory and contractual. Tell us where you are and we will tell you, plainly, what your position is and what the next working days require. The first conversation is complimentary.